All three airfields were built after the Battle of Britain: the first at Tricky Warren was started in 1941 and originally intended as an emergency landing ground, initially to be known as RAF Churchstanton. (It was eventually to be renamed RAF Culmhead, as the original prefix had caused confusion with RAF Church Fenton in Yorkshire).

According to a local man, Mark Long, whose father had operated a steam roller during the construction of Culmhead’s runways, the first aircraft to land there was an enemy plane that had become lost. Long Senior always started his day’s work at the crack of dawn by lighting up the boiler on his machine to ensure there was sufficient steam for its operation when the main workforce arrived. One morning, during this process, he was surprised to see an aircraft land on a partially completed runway.

The pilot emerged from the cockpit and approached the roller driver, seemingly to ask where he had landed. Long could not understand what the pilot was saying and it was obvious to the German that he could not make out the Somerset burr of Long either and immediately realised that he must have landed in England, whereupon he rushed back to his aircraft and took off again.

There was a well-recorded incident of remarkable similarity the same year, when a Ju-88 landed at the partly-completed Lulsgate airfield (now Bristol International Airport); but the crew were not so lucky and did not have time to return to their aircraft before they were apprehended and taken prisoner. The Ju-88 was of the latest type and provided much valuable information to the RAF authorities, who test flew and evaluated it under the auspices of the Enemy Aircraft Flight.  

19th June 1944: The pilot of this Spitfire was over Upottery field when he had problems changing from one fuel tank to another. He landed wheels down but when he realised he was going to collide with some parked C-47’s he pulled his landing gear up and slid safely to a stop. The markings on this aircraft identifies it as belonging to 126 Squadron RAF Culmhead. A crash landing recorded on this date indicates that the quick thinking pilot was possibly Flight Sergeant Hinton.

Copyright Charles D Young “Into the Valley”